Publicly announced contracted capacity of corporate
Power Purchase Agreements, Green Power Purchases,
Green Tariffs, and Outright Project Ownership in the
United States and Mexico, 2012 –2016.

Excludes on-site generation such as rooftop solar PV.

Last updated: May 10, 2016.

Source: Rocky Mountain Institute

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Capacity (GW)

3

2

1

0

How Do Tey Work?

When an entity other than
a utility purchases power
directly from a power generator, that’s a corporate PPA.

There are two types: a physical PPA in which the power is
actually delivered to the buyer
or a virtual PPA in which the
corporation purchases the
output of a renewable energy
plant that may not be located
adjacent to its facilities.

Orrick’s John said that buying power from a generator instead
of a utility isn’t part of a corporate business model so the report
helps to highlight some of the “pain points” that both developers
and corporations may encounter when developing a deal.

First, from the corporation’s perspective, it may come as a surprise that certain credit requirements are necessary. “This gets
into things that big fortune 100 companies aren’t used to procuring,” said John. A corporation would generally require its own
suppliers to prove credit-worthiness but they aren’t used to having to prove their own, which a developer will need in order to
sign a deal with, for example, the tax-equity partner.